1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to commercial asset control, and more particularly to monitoring access to controlled areas for the purpose of asset control.
2. Description of the Related Art
Asset control is a critical capability required in numerous business environments. Assets may comprise computer parts or products, electronics, jewelry, works of art, airport baggage, hospital items, confidential records, or any other merchandise or products. One approach to the problem of asset control is the monitoring of access to controlled areas that contain the assets. Controlled areas may include an enclosed computer cabinet, a shipping container, a room, a building, an area, a group of rooms or buildings or a section of an area. Monitoring access to the areas containing the assets provides a level of control over possession of the assets.
One proposed solution to this problem involves the use of a secured entry system that comprises a detector or a computer interface located at the entryway of the controlled area, as well as a computer system for processing. In a typical secured entry system, a user presents an electronic passkey or transmitter at the entryway and the system checks whether the user possesses permission to access the controlled area. A secured entry system may further include monitoring of movement of assets into and out of the controlled area. Although successful in many ways, the aforementioned secured entry system can be expensive and time consuming to install and administer. The installation of an entryway detector and a system server is required, as well as the distribution of passkeys and the corresponding server programming of permissions. Finally, the system must be maintained by a computer administrator and periodically checked. Thus, the proposed solution may be beyond the budget of small businesses and individuals.
Presently there is no known way to rapidly deploy an inexpensive and easily maintainable system or mechanism for monitoring access to controlled areas. Thus, in light of the prior art, there currently is a need for a more efficient way of monitoring access to controlled areas containing valuable assets.